The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to neighbor cell synchronization signal block index determination.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, or a New Radio (NR) system). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or access network nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
A base station may transmit synchronization signals (SS) blocks to assist a UE in synchronizing with a cell associated with the base station. For example, an SS block may include signals that assist the UE in acquiring the cell's timing. A base station may transmit multiple SS blocks, for example in a SS burst that lasts for a particular duration of time. SS blocks may be transmitted at a different times and in different directions using beam forming, for example in a beam sweeping pattern. A UE that receives an SS block during an SS burst may attempt to use that SS block to determine the timing of the associated cell. However, the UE may not be able to do so without knowing which SS block in the burst it received. Although the temporal location of each SS block within an SS burst may be indicated by an index associated with the SS block, the UE may be unaware of the index for an SS block when it receives the SS block.